A U.S. Senate bill that was introduced last year could have far-reaching implications for thousands of federal inmates if it ever makes it to the president’s desk, and Tennessee activists are turning up the heat on their senators to help make sure that happens.
The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act enjoys bipartisan support, most notably from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who has opposed previous sentencing reform efforts.
Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, is joined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., right, as he speaks to reporters after the Senate voted overwhelmingly to end debate on the makeover of the widely criticized No Child Left Behind Act, setting up a final vote Wednesday, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015. The sweeping legislation would give the states greater control over the nation’s public schools but still maintain annual testing to gauge student progress. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) If it were passed in its current form, the bill would lessen federal sentencing guidelines for drug-related offenses in an attempt by some of its creators to reduce rates of mass incarceration in the federal penal system.
Mandatory life sentences issued for a “third strike” for people convicted of a drug offense would be reduced to a minimum of 25 years while the minimum for the second offense would be cut from 20 to 15 years.
These changes could also apply retroactively to inmates who were handed stricter sentences under the current guidelines and, moving forward, judges could have more discretion to issue more lenient sentences below the minimums for non-violent offenders.
In an attempt to galvanize support for its passage, Gloria Sweet-Love, president of the Tennessee State Conference of the NAACP and Eric Alexander, a formerly incarcerated youth advocate with YMCA of Middle Tennessee in Nashville, hosted a press call on March 23 urging Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker to throw their weight behind the bill.
“This is an opportunity for our senators to show leadership at a time when our nation is focused on issues of policing and justice,” Sweet-Love said. “It’s a time for them to show that Congress can work together to reform and pass a major piece of justice legislation.”
More than 85,000 inmates, nearly half the federal prison population, are serving time for drug offenses, a number that has risen precipitously over the past several decades.
Eric Alexander, who has himself been reintegrated after several years for an offense he committed as a juvenile, lent his voice to the conversation by asking lawmakers to consider how much personal change can occur behind bars.
“We’re not asking that prison doors be opened and that people walk out freely, we’re saying take consideration and look at these cases,” he said. “See that they have changed, see that they have worked on their lives and give them a second chance to re-enter society.”
In response to this call to action, both senators declined to take a firm stance on whether they would support the bill, but commented on the need for reform.
“Senator Corker believes that our sentencing laws must be carefully calibrated to provide appropriate, just punishment and to deter future crime. Given the importance of this issue, he is continuing to examine this legislation and will carefully consider it should it come before the full Senate for a vote,” a representative from Corker’s office said.
Alexander’s office also responded, saying, “There is a growing consensus that our nation needs to reexamine our criminal justice system, and I am carefully considering how this legislation would affect individuals, families, communities, cities and states across the country. Discussions are still ongoing to address public safety concerns, and I look forward to a thorough debate should the bill be considered by the full Senate.”
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.